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Frankie Hejduk downed the Red Bulls.

More Points -- (9/18) -- Crew 3, Red Bulls 1 (W) -- It was a great rebound tonight from an initial New York 1-0 lead as Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Gaven and Robbie Rogers slammed goals in Crew Stadium for another three points in an unusual Thursday night matchup. Crew Stadium had been without power much of the week after the remnants of Hurricane Ike brought 78 mph gusts to the capital city Sunday afternoon, but the Banana kits channeled their massive powers to the joy of the drum banging flag waving faithful and wrapped up yet another victory.  Once again star Guillermo Barros Schelotto did not play as he nursed as an apparently minor but nagging left hamstring strain, but it made no difference as The Massive (14-6-5) easily overcame an overenergetic Red Bull rush and remained in first place overall in MLS. Schelotto is a local hero now after scoring two goals and eight assists in four games before his injury, which kept him out of the Revolution and Red Bull matches. It's clear, however, that the massive Argentine midfielder will be ready probably for the next game against New England and certainly for the 10/4 game against David Beckham and the LA Galaxy, which is now officially sold out. It's also clear that it's now playoff time, which should ignite smoke and song in the Nordecke. The Massive also comes off a 1-1 tie at Toronto FC last Saturday in a match overshadowed by a certain other game of football that was miserably played near Hollywood the same day. Pat Noonan of former Revolution fame provided the drama for Columbus with a goal that gained The Massive another point and kept his former squad at bay in second. 

Massive Canaries still rule the roost

Get  Massive -- It's a Crew Revolt!!! (9/6) -- Crew 4, Revolution 0 (W) -- What a great night for sports in Columbus, and no, I'm not referring to the nailbiting Buckeye win over OU on Saturday. I'm talking about a beautiful 75 degree evening and a boisterous crowd of close to 20,000 at Crew stadium. We heartily cheered on MLS' top team to yet another victory, a shutout of tired, decimated second place New England. Not that the Crew (13-6-4) were at full strength, but from the whining in the press that's going on by New England's Steve Nichol and Toronto's John Carver you'd think Columbus is allowed to field a rugby 15, not a "futbol" 11. Coach Nichols commented to the Columbus Dispatch that his team had nothing left in the tank heading into the match because of non-MLS game obligations, and Toronto FC coach Carver tried to have his game this weekend postponed for a purported lack of warm bodies. Well, the Crew played without standouts Frankie Hejduk (US National qualifier vs. Cuba) and Alejandro Moreno (qualifier for Venezuela), plus Nigerian silver medalist Emmanuel Ekpo has been away for a month, is exhausted and did not start. The stars of the 4-0 grand slam shutout for the yellow clad, newly nicknamed "Massive Canaries" (to most just "The Massive") were of course GK Wil Hesmer and MF Guillermo Barros Schelotto, who had the opening goal and then two more assists (18 total now) after being named MLS player of the month. However, the second half also featured a goal barrage from substitute Jason Garey, who entered in the 66th minute, scored immediately, and then scored a padder at the end. Andy Iro also celebrated his first goal. Columbus remains in first place, 5 points ahead of New England and keeps the best record in the entire league.

Schelotto has set a Crew record with 16 total assists

Out in Front (9/1) -- Crew 2, FC Dallas 1 (W) -- It was the Schelotto show again Saturday night, this time in the heat of Dallas, Texas, as the Crew's indispensible Argentinian midfielder charted 2 more assists, leading Columbus (12-6-4) to its MLS leading 40th point and a 2-1 victory. Dallas had scored first in the 35th minute on a goal by former Crew member Jeff Cunningham, but Columbus quickly struck back with a perfect Schelotto corner to Chad Marshall inside, who headed it to Alejandro Moreno for the score at 37 minutes. Just three minutes later, Schelotto again assisted, this time with a nice cross to Eddie Gaven, who headed in his first goal of the season. Schelotto's two assists gave him 16 on the season, a Crew record. Columbus sits in first place now, and awaits the arrival of the New England Revolution for an important game next Saturday night at Crew Stadium (9/6).  

Guillermo Barros Schelotto shot down RSL.

Winning Ways  -- Crew 3, RSL 0 (W) -- The Crew churned forward again this weekend, building on last week's 2-1 win at home over FC Dallas before 17,647 by defeating Real Salt Lake 3-0 in Crew Stadium. The crowd was a bit smaller this week but the victory was just as sweet and much quicker as Columbus raced to an early 15th minute lead and earned its league leading 37th point, a feat which took the team an additional 9 games last year. The Crew (11-6-4) stands tied for first in the East and in the league with New England, which visits the capital city on 9/6 for the next home match. Come prepared people, as we are witnessing the finest season in franchise history, and some of the greatest characters and players to don the black and yellow. Take the famed Argentinian, Guillermos Barros Schelotto, for example. Without any research whatsoever, let me say that he is probably the highest paid player Columbus has ever seen on the pitch. He makes a whopping $375,000, as much as a rookie major league baseball player in Milwaukee or Colorado. So what does he do to prove his real worth? Only grab his league leading 13th and 14th assists and his fifth goal, on a 25th minute PK that put Columbus up 2-0 and the game out of reach. Chad Marshall had netted the opening score, his third on the year. Brad Evans put in the final score with two-thirds of the game gone on a header fed by Schelotto and Eddie Gaven, who had earlier been taken down hard in the box leading to Schelotto's PK goal. Schelotto also had two assists and Evans a goal in the previous 2-1 win over FC Dallas. However, overaggressive Danny O'Rourke once again raised eyebrows with his nasty knock down of RSL's Javier Morales, leading to a yellow card and a suspension for next Saturday's game at FC Dallas (6-7-8). Let's hope for another point or three and then cheer on the hard working boys for their return to town on 9/6. 

Tags: columbus crew, crew, mls, soccer